Daily Deduction

from the Tax Policy Center

Obama's 2015 Budget Hits Capitol Hill

Need some light reading? The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 came out yesterday. Obama’s $3.9 trillion fiscal blueprint includes about $1 trillion in new taxes, mostly on the wealthy and large businesses, to fund a combination of new programs and deficit reduction. Learn more (a lot more) about the revenue proposals in the Treasury’s green book. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will testify this morning before the Senate Finance Committee, while OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell will do her part before the Senate Budget Committee.

You need this too: a one-stop shop for Camp’s Tax Reform Plan. Check out the Tax Policy Center’s clearinghouse for House Ways & Means Committee chair Dave Camp’s reform plan’s details, including the very latest TPC commentary and research: Gene Steuerle commends Camp for using his “clout to change the process or reframe the debate in ways more likely to serve the public.” Howard Gleckman unearths common, though narrow, ground for consensus among President Obama, Rep. Camp, and even House Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan (R-WI). Gordon Mermin explains how Camp’s plan simplifies tax subsidies for higher education.

Wyden announces his Finance Committee senior staff. New Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is putting his senior staff in place. Long-time Wyden aides Joshua Sheinkman will be staff director and Todd Metcalf will be chief tax counsel. Mike Evans, who worked for former Finance chair Max Baucus before moving to K St, will be chief counsel. Wyden has also brought in a number of experienced health policy staffers.

A few more states work for (tax) change. Idaho’s House of Representatives’ Republican majority hopes its bill to cut corporate and individual income taxes by about $126 million moves ahead. New Mexico’s Republican Governor Susana Martinez signed into law HB 24: the state’s businesses can now sell or repair commercial or military aircraft over 10,000 pounds without tax penalty. Oregon’s Democratic legislature sent a bill to collect taxes on prepaid cell phones to fund emergency services to Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber.

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